NEW YEAR RESOLUTION -to blog more

as 2009 gets underway I get the urge to try and blog on this site as frequently as possible...it will help me focus on my daily blessings and hopefully give me some kind of therapeutic encouragement. so here goes for January 5th, 2009.

got up at 4am and headed downtown for a show in desperate need of some ideas...we settled with Daniel Howes on the auto industry battles...Senator Mike Bishop on the budget...two authors who wrote a book about the Stephen Grant murder case...Sheriff Mark hackel responds to them...Jim Barry of the Consumer electronics association...Jim Stark about the delay of the Michigan Sports hall of fame induction ceremony and FOX news contributor John R. Lott about the Al Franken win in Minnesota. while I'm here we also discussed GRAN TORINO the film that was shot in Detroit by Clint Eastwood:

there are movies and then there are films...the difference for me is a movie is mainly a mindless fun plot that entertains and ends there...a film can actually change lives...THIS IS A FILM. they don't come along very often....Shawshank Redemption, Good Will hunting,Amazing Grace and Million Dollar baby are FILMS...GRAN TORINO is a film masterpiece...I can't tell you all the different reasons why but this film will stir your soul. Clint Eastwood is a genius. it breaks my heart to think that this planet won't have his filmmaking forever...I just hope he's passing along all the things he has learned about constructing a film like this one to someone in his life...when you sit down to visit this middle American tale be prepared to experience the heart of Eastwood...the lessons that scream at you include our fear of neighborhoods and being neighborly, racism, the spiritual questions, death and end of life, and finally personal family relationships...this film covers ALL OF IT. If this film doesn't touch you then I'm speechless and your hopelessly numb.Let me tell you one other thing about this film that is truly remarkable...you won't recognize a single player in this film. there are no superstars who demand 20 million a film...dare I say a single actor outside of Mr. Eastwood himself made a single million from this performance and yet that's another beautiful thing about all this...you don't get bogged down by familiarity...it's all new, refreshing and bold...way to go Mr. Eastwood! when does your next film come out ? I'll be first in line.

ST. PATRICKS DAY TRIBUTE

TODAY IS ST. PATRICKS DAY! SO THIS POST IS IN HONOR OF THE LATE LEGENDARY BROADCASTING IRISHMAN JP McCARTHY, MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE DETROIT HISTORICAL MUSEUM FOR THE EXHIBIT HONORING JP!

NEW DETROIT HISTORICAL MUSEUM EXHIBIT FEATURING
CLASSIC RADIO VOICES OPENS SATURDAY, MARCH 8TH

DETROIT – A new exhibit opening at the Detroit Historical Museum on Saturday, March 8th features six of our city’s most notable radio personalities of the past and present. Entitled Detroit’s Classic Radio Voices, the exhibit features artifacts, photos and audio from the following:
· Bob Allison – the folksy host of the “Ask Your Neighbor” radio program since 1962, originally on WWJ-AM and now on WNZK-AM, he also gained fame as the host of “Bowling for Dollars” and as the Twin Pines milkman on “Milky’s Party Time” on Channel 4 (then WWJ-TV).
· Sonny Eliot – billed on WWJ Newsradio 950’s website as a “wonder of wit and weather,” he has broadcast his inimitable weather forecasts on the station since 1950, in addition to his lengthy stints doing weather on Channel 4 (then WWJ-TV) and WJBK-TV2 and his hosting of the popular “At the Zoo” television show for 17 years.
· Ernie Harwell – a member of both the Radio and Baseball Halls of Fame, this broadcasting legend became the voice of the Detroit Tigers in 1960 and continued with only one brief interruption through his retirement at the end of the 2002 season, endearing himself to fans of all ages with his signature calls like “LOOOOONG GONE.”
· J.P. McCarthy – the immortal morning man at News/Talk 760 WJR, this Detroit institution and Radio Hall of Famer woke up Detroit with his friendly conversational style and unequaled talent as an interviewer from the early 1960s through his untimely death in 1995.
· Dick Purtan – the quintessential morning radio funnyman, this Radio Hall of Famer has taken his highly rated show to a succession of stations over more than 40 years in the Detroit market, starting with WKNR-AM in 1965 through his current 12-year stint at Oldies 104.3 WOMC-FM.
· Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg – a trailblazer for both Blacks and women in broadcasting, she came to Detroit from Memphis in 1963 and became a sensation as an R & B disc jockey and social commentator at WCHB-AM and WJLB-FM before buying a station in 1982 that became gospel and talk WQBH-AM, where she starred until her death in 2000.
The exhibit continues in the Museum’s Kresge Gallery through Sunday, August 24th. The supporting sponsor for the exhibit is Big Boy Restaurants, and the Japanese Business Society of Detroit Foundation is a community sponsor, with media partners WWJ Newsradio 950, News/Talk 760 WJR and Oldies 104.3 WOMC.The Detroit Historical Museum, located at 5401 Woodward Ave. (NW corner of Kirby) in Detroit’s Cultural Center area, is open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m. On Mondays and Tuesdays, the Museum is not open to the public but available for group tours by calling (313) 833-7979. Adult admission is $6. Seniors (60+), college students with valid college ID, and youth ages 5-18 pay $4. Admission for children ages four and under is free. Parking in the Museum’s lot is $3 at all times. Permanent exhibits include the famous Streets of Old Detroit, Frontiers to Factories, The Motor City, and The Glancy Trains. For more information, call the Museum at (313) 833-1805 or check out our website at www.detroithistorical.org.